photo by: Jeff Burkhead/Backstory Photography

Drag queen Deja Brooks reaches for a baseball bat and a lipstick during last year's Celebrity Softball Weekend. The Boys & Girls Club of Lawrence fundraiser is returning for a second edition next weekend.

At the Boys & Girls Club’s upcoming Celebrity Softball Weekend, you can expect to see all kinds of local faces on the rosters — a state legislator, the Douglas County sheriff, some former KU basketball and football stars and a drag performer who previously won the title of Miss Gay Kansas.

It’s a fitting way to raise money for an organization based around serving all kinds of kids, said Alissa Bourneuf, the Boys & Girls Club’s director of marketing and communications.

“We haven’t really talked about this, but it kind of reminds me of Boys & Girls Club itself,” Bourneuf told the Journal-World this past week. “You bring a whole bunch of different kids together and some of them have working parents and some are like, ‘No, I just really want to come here.’ There’s all different types of reasons that kids come to Boys & Girls Club. That’s kind of what this event feels like. … It’s just such a cool way to represent what we do at the club — we bring a whole bunch of different walks of life to be at Boys & Girls Club together.”

The charity game, now in its second year, is scheduled for noon on Saturday, Aug. 6, at Rock Chalk Park, and it will feature nearly 30 big names from the Lawrence community in areas as diverse as business, law enforcement, schools, entertainment and sports. Despite their diverse backgrounds, they’re all supporters of the Boys & Girls Club — and some of them are even former members of it.

That’s the case for former KU football player Brandon McAnderson. He played in last year’s charity game, too, despite having no softball experience himself — although he did grow up watching his father play in softball tournaments. But he was eager to do his part to support the club, which he said has evolved into a “powerful community institution.”

“It was a central part of friendships I still have today, and an integral part of my childhood,” McAnderson said. “Any chance I have an opportunity to give back, I definitely want to.”

Like McAnderson, Brandon Eisman — who is participating as his drag queen persona Deja Brooks — will be returning to the diamond after playing in last year’s Celebrity Softball Weekend. Eisman said it’s his strong belief in mentoring and supporting local youth that drove him to sign up for this year’s game.

“The fact that we have so many nonprofits here in Lawrence and Douglas County, especially those that give back to kiddos, really is important to me because I’m a parent, and I feel that we all have our part to play in supporting one another or doing our part for the community,” Eisman said. “If this is one way that I can help educate and support this organization, then why would I not throw my cleats — my heels — back onto the diamond to support them again?”

There are plenty of new faces, as well, including state Rep. Christina Haswood. She told the Journal-World she’s excited to help support the club’s services in whatever way she can — even if it’s been a while since her softball-playing days.

“I haven’t played softball since my sophomore year on the Lawrence High School C-team, so I hope I still (have) some of those skills,” Haswood said.

The fundraiser isn’t just a softball game; the organization will also host a “Fanfest Fundraiser” on Friday, Aug. 5, from 7 to 10 p.m. at Maceli’s, 1031 New Hampshire St., during which attendees will be able to mingle with some of the players. The idea is to make it more accessible for community members to attend if they are otherwise occupied on game day, Bourneuf said.

A couple of fundraising elements are also new this year, including a “golden ticket” raffle at the Fanfest. One hundred tickets will be sold for $100 each, and the winner gets a Labor Day weekend getaway at a Napa Valley winery. On the day of the game, there will be another raffle with a less likely chance of victory — a “home run” raffle. If a home run is sent through a 12-inch hole on an 8-foot-wide sign located just beyond the outfield wall, someone in the audience will win a car.

Although there will be plenty of local celebrities in action on the field, Bourneuf also had a special mention for one who’s not on the rosters — KU football coach Lance Leipold, who will throw the game’s first pitch. She said it means a lot that Leipold will be making the time to drop by during the football team’s preseason camp.

“To me, it’s very easy to get ghosted by people like that,” Bourneuf said. “He knew he wasn’t able to commit to more than that yet still wanted to find a way, and to me that’s just something that really speaks highly to his level of commitment in Lawrence. It just adds a little something extra as far as celebrity status to the event.”

The Celebrity Softball Weekend is sponsored by Grandstand Glassware + Apparel and CEK Insurance. You can purchase tickets online — a weekend pass is $75, and tickets to the softball game only are $20 for adults. Admission is free for children 17 and younger.

Here are the full lineups for the two softball teams:

CEK Bat-itudes

• Mark Buhler (Coach), CEK Insurance

• Harry Herington, CEO of NIC Inc.

• Sherron Collins, KU basketball national champion and Free State High head basketball coach

• Tyshawn Taylor, KU basketball All-American and Free State High assistant basketball coach

• Dr. Holly Gault, Community Healthcare Center of Southeast Kansas

• Jessica Bassett, Lawrence High principal

• Lawrence Police Department Officer Anthony Harvey

• Alan Rector, owner of A-Team Home Improvement

• Keon Stowers, KU football alumnus

• Nate Bukaty, Sporting Kansas City commentator

• Lawrence Police Department Lt. Mark Unruh

• Tanner Hawkinson, former NFL player and KU football alumnus

• Paul Bost, Jim Bost Plumbing

• Jolona Shield-Dzakic, head softball coach at Haskell Indian Nations University

Grandstand Growlers

• Paul Sage (Coach), Grandstand Glassware + Apparel

• Nevin White (Coach), Grandstand Glassware + Apparel

• Stacy Simmons (Coach), Douglas County undersheriff

• Brandon McAnderson, KU football alumnus

• Brian Hanni, Voice of the Jayhawks

• Jay Armbrister, Douglas County sheriff

• Brandon Eisman, a.k.a. Deja Brooks, Miss Gay Kansas 2020

• Mick Shaffer, sports director at KSHB-41

• State Rep. Christina Haswood

• Justin Thornton, KU football alumnus

• Darrell Stuckey II, former NFL player and KU director of football relations

• Julius Leary, Frontiers Clinical and Translational Science Institute

• Ehren Feldmeyer, owner of Feldmeyer Financial

• Lyle Schwartz, of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical